


Touch Experiment

by ami_ven



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Community: mcsheplets, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-16
Updated: 2014-06-16
Packaged: 2018-02-04 21:24:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1793650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ami_ven/pseuds/ami_ven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John doesn’t like to be touched.  Rodney needs more data.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Touch Experiment

**Author's Note:**

> written for LJ community "mcsheplets" prompt #015 "touch"

Rodney might not have been the most socially-aware guy in any galaxy, but he’d figured pretty early on that John didn’t like to be touched.

John didn’t flinch or try to hit him when Rodney forgot, though, so it wasn’t his training, or some weird trauma, just a personal preference. Still, Rodney tried to keep touching in general to a minimum.

Only, with John, it was so easy to forget. He was always _right there_ , always within touching distance, that it just felt completely natural to grab his elbow, or poke his shoulder, or smack his hand when he shouldn’t be playing with Ancient things. And John just went along with him, or poked back, or played with things anyway.

Then Rodney started noticing what happened when other people touched John. Teyla and Ronon did the most, but usually while they were kicking his butt on the sparring mats. Carson was allowed, as a doctor, but too much contact, even in a professional manner, had John anxious to leave the infirmary. And the one time Elizabeth had hugged him, John looked more freaked out than when he faced down a Wraith.

Rodney needed more data— clearly, it was time for an experiment.

An opportunity appeared almost immediately, during the mandatory movie night (yet another showing of _Star Wars_ ). Rodney plopped down on the Ancient couch-thing beside John and when the lights went out, he reached over and took John’s hand.

“Um… Rodney?” asked John, sounding more curious than anything. “What are you doing?”

“What are you, stupid? I’m holding your hand. Now, shut up and watch the movie.”

“Okay,” John said slowly, obviously wondering if Rodney was losing it. 

But he didn’t let go, even when he leaned over to explain things to Ronon and Teyla. Halfway through, Rodney shifted to lace their fingers together, and when the credits started rolling, he let go, ignoring John’s questioning eyebrow.

The next week ( _The Empire Strikes Back_ ) Rodney tried it again. John didn’t comment, but he still didn’t pull away, even though Teyla was on Rodney’s other side with the popcorn and he had to reach across with his free hand.

The third week ( _Return of the Jedi_ , of course) Rodney considered not going, mandatory or not. He was exhausted, after spending all day tracking down power fluctuations that turned out to be _completely nothing_. But, tired as he was, he really wanted to— couldn’t abandon an experiment.

As soon as the lights went down, he grabbed John’s hand… and woke up as the second Death Star exploded, with his head on John’s shoulder.

“Hey,” said the colonel, grinning. “Good nap, buddy?”

Rodney sat up quickly. “I… um…”

“Come on,” John interrupted, pulling them both to their feet, “I’d better walk you to your room.”

They were nearly there when Rodney’s sleep-addled brain realized that John was still holding his hand.

“So,” said John, opening Rodney’s door before he could say anything, and following him inside. “What’s your conclusion?”

“I— What?” Rodney asked.

“You’ve been running an experiment, McKay,” said John. He let go of Rodney’s hand, but slowly, so that their fingertips brushed. “What did you learn?”

Rodney took a deep breath, really hoping he was right. “You don’t like to be touched, at all, even by Teyla, or Elizabeth, or Carson. Except… except you don’t mind when it’s me.”

“That’s almost the same conclusion I came to,” said John, stepping deliberately into Rodney’s personal space. “Except, I _like_ when it’s you.”

“Oh. _Oh_.”

And, it turned out, that when it was Rodney doing the touching, John liked it a lot.

THE END


End file.
